THE CITY OF NEW YORK. PREFACE 808 Та LANGUAGE is the most elastic of all things; and perhaps English, being the most composite of all languages, is also the most elastic. For this reason, its effective use is almost as much an art as a science. Hardly any document that ever is written in it can be constructed on what may be called mechanical principles. This fact becomes especially apparent when we observe the difficulties that foreigners encounter in trying to master it. And when we consider critically our own use of our native speech, and ob serve the numerous molehills that rise between synonyms, and the obscure pitfalls of the tenses, we have little reason to smile at the struggles of the foreigner. It would be inexcusably rash for the most practised rhetorician to set himself up as an authority. But any one that has studied the subject may make helpful suggestions for others, and will certainly learn how much he needs them in return. I wish the reader to look upon this book, not as an authority, but as a reminder, from one who is simply a fellow student. R. J. 20886 New York Pubil Rivington St. Branch, 61 Rivington Street. CIRCULATING DEPARTMENT THE ALPHABET OF RHETORIC A. The indefinite article is often used where it should be omitted, and omitted where it should be used. In the common form of expression "what kind of a bird is it" the a is superfluous. It is both correct and elegant to say instead "what kind of bird is it? The sentence "On my way to the post-office I met a carpenter and joiner" is likely to be correct, because those two trades are usually united, and but one man was met; but the sentence "Or'my way to the post-office I met a carpenter and minister" is probably incorrect, because the speaker no doubt met two men, and he should say he "met a 'carpenter and a minister." It is perhaps correct to say "He is a gentleman and scholar," but the praise of his accomplishments is made more distinct and emphatic by repeating the article, "He is a gentleman and a scholar," which calls attention to the fact that he might be either without being the other. It would be inelegant to say "He is a banker and a broker," because banking and brokerage are closely allied, and it is com I mon for the two to be carried on by the same person or firm. Macaulay, in the letter to Henry S. Randall wherein he demonstrates conclusively that the United States Government will prove a dismal failure, writes, "It is possible to doubt what sort of a legislature will be chosen." Holmes, in The Professor at the BreakfastTable, writes: "Isn't that a pretty nice sort of a boy, though he has not yet got anything the matter with him that takes the taste of this world out.” Aside from the superfluous a, this is an astonishingly bad sentence for Holmes. The last clause should read, "Though nothing is the matter with him that takes out the taste of this world." The use of a as a preposition is preferable to per when the word that follows is English. Say "The subscription price is five dollars a year," or say it is "five dollars per annum. Abbreviations. Considering how frequently good language is marred by abbreviations, robbed of dignity and sometimes rendered obscure, we might almost say it is a pity that abbreviations ever were invented. From the frequency and persistence with which some persons use abbreviations, one might suppose that Providence has given them an allowance of speech (measured by letters and syllables) and doomed them to silence as soon as |